Jalandhara’s Rise and Fall

Jalandhara was an asura born from the fire of Bhagavān Śiva’s anger, and brought up by the Ocean as his son. He became king of the asuras and ruled the three worlds. He was protected by a vara (boon) from Brahmā and by the purity of his wife Vṛndā. He asked for Lakshmī from Bhagavān Vishṇu and for Pārvatī from Bhagavān Śiva, and made war on the devas. He fell when Vṛndā’s purity was broken and the Sudarśana cakra cut off his head.

The Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells this in the Uttara Khaṇḍa, and the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa tells it in the Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya. Each text’s account is given in turn.

The Padma account of his birth (Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapters 3–4)

When Bhagavān Śiva’s anger was roused, its fiery mass left him and moved through the world looking for a place to rest. It entered the river Gaṅgā. Gaṅgā could not bear it and sent it on to the ocean, saying that it was beyond her power to hold.

The great Ocean took this anger of Bhagavān Śiva and carried it within himself. In time a son was born from this union of Bhagavān Śiva’s anger and the Ocean. He was already full of great power, with blazing eyes and a terrible look, and he cried with a sound that shook the worlds. The devas were troubled and could not quiet the child. Brahmā himself came down. He looked at the child born from the Ocean and the fire of Bhagavān Śiva’s anger, and named him Jalandhara: jala means water and dhara means one who holds or bears.

The vara and his upbringing

Brahmā saw that Jalandhara was a being of great destiny. He gave the newborn a vara (boon) of invincibility, so that no force in creation could overcome him as long as the conditions of that protection stayed whole. No deva, no weapon and no army could bring him down by force alone.

The Ocean, as his father, brought him up with care. The young asura grew quickly in power. He had the vastness of his father and the fierce energy of Bhagavān Śiva’s anger. Like the great asura kings of the Purāṇas, he always wanted to widen his rule, to show his supremacy, and to take what the devas had kept for themselves.

Śukrācārya and the marriage to Vṛndā (Chapters 4–5)

When Jalandhara came of age, Śukrācārya, the teacher of the asuras, became his guide and guru. Śukrācārya had long served the asura line with his knowledge of nīti (statecraft) and the Mṛtasañjīvanī vidyā (the knowledge that raises the dead), and he used all of it in guiding Jalandhara’s rule.

Śukrācārya also arranged Jalandhara’s marriage. The bride was Vṛndā, a woman of great spiritual purity, of the line of the apsarās. She was born by the grace of Krauñca to the apsarā Svarṇā. Her pātivratya (the sacred power of a wife’s devotion to her husband) was of the highest kind. Her unbroken purity was the second shield of Jalandhara’s invincibility. As long as Vṛndā stayed faithful and her purity was whole, no power could truly destroy him. Brahmā’s vara and Vṛndā’s pātivratya together made Jalandhara unconquerable.

Maya’s city of gems (Chapter 5)

The great asura builder Maya built a city of gems for Jalandhara on the sea shore. Maya’s work had no equal. He knew stone, metal, jewel and illusion, and he joined them into forms of great beauty and power. It was the capital of a king who had conquered svarga and earth.

The conquest of the three worlds (Chapters 8–9)

Jalandhara moved quickly to take the whole universe. He attacked the devas and drove Indra and the other devas out of their realm. The devas could not stand against Jalandhara’s vara and Vṛndā’s purity, and they were routed. They became wanderers, without their yajña shares, their honours in the rites and their lands in svarga.

Jalandhara placed his own commanders in authority. Śumbha was stationed in svarga as his deputy. Niśumbha was named his heir. The asura empire now covered all three worlds: the earth, the middle regions and svarga.

His rule and his demands (Chapters 8–10)

Within his realm Jalandhara ruled well. His kingdom was rich and his people were well governed. The Uttara Khaṇḍa records that his reign had a strict peace and order.

But Jalandhara wanted what he could not rightly have. He demanded Lakshmī from Bhagavān Vishṇu. He then sent insolent demands to Bhagavān Śiva, including a demand for Pārvatī herself. These demands led to the breaking of both his shields.

The devas seek help (Chapters 9–10)

The devas could not win back their place by force. They went to Bhagavān Śiva and told him their trouble. Bhagavān Śiva received them. They also went to Bhagavān Vishṇu at the Ocean of Milk and asked for his counsel and help.

A second Padma account of his birth and rise (Chapters 96–100)

Nārada tells a longer account of Jalandhara’s birth to King Pṛthu in Chapters 96–100. It is given as the history behind the greatness of Tulasī. It has several details that the first account does not.

Indra at Kailāsa (Chapter 96)

Indra went to Kailāsa to see Bhagavān Śiva, with all the devas and with apsarās (dancers of svarga) in attendance. At the door of Bhagavān Śiva he found a man of fearful look, fierce with fangs and eyes. The man did not answer when Indra spoke to him. Angry at his silence, Indra struck him with the thunderbolt. The man’s throat turned dark blue and the thunderbolt was turned to ash.

Bhagavān Śiva blazed with anger. Bṛhaspati quickly bowed Indra down before Bhagavān Śiva and praised Bhagavān Śiva with hymns. Bhagavān Śiva was pleased and offered Bṛhaspati a vara. Bṛhaspati asked that the fire coming from the eye of Bhagavān Śiva be put out. Bhagavān Śiva replied that he could not draw it back in, but he would throw it far away so that it would not trouble Indra.

The birth (Chapter 96)

Bhagavān Śiva took the fire in his hand and threw it into the salt ocean. It fell where the river Gaṅgā meets the ocean. It took the form of a child and wept. The sound of the weeping made the earth shake again and again, and deafened svarga and Satyaloka. Brahmā went there and found the child on the lap of the Ocean. The Ocean bowed, put the boy before Brahmā and asked him to perform the birth rites.

The child seized Brahmā’s beard and shook it again and again. Tears came from Brahmā’s eyes. When he had freed his beard, Brahmā said: “Since he held these tears from my eyes, he will be famous by the name Jalandhara.” Brahmā also said that the boy would become a youth at once, that he would be master of all weapons and sacred texts, and that no being could kill him except Rudra. Then Brahmā called Śukra, seated Jalandhara on the throne, and went away.

The Ocean was full of joy. He obtained Vṛndā, the daughter of Kālanemi, as wife for his son. The asuras led by Kālanemi gladly gave their daughter to Jalandhara. With Śukra’s help, Jalandhara then began to rule the earth.

The war that began with the churning (Chapter 97)

The cause of Jalandhara’s war on Indra in this account was his anger on seeing Rāhu with his head cut off. He asked Śukra about it. Śukra told him how the devas and asuras had churned the ocean, how the nectar and all the jewels came out, how the asuras were beaten, and how Rāhu was beheaded. Jalandhara heard how his father the Ocean had been churned and his jewels taken, and his eyes turned red with anger. He sent a messenger to Indra to demand all the jewels back.

Indra answered that the Ocean had taken the side of his enemies, the asuras, and that this was why he was churned. The churning, he said, came from the Ocean’s own choice. Jalandhara then gathered crores of asuras and attacked svarga. The battle was fierce. Bhārgava (Śukra) revived the asuras with the Mṛtasañjīvanī, and Bṛhaspati brought herbs from Droṇa mountain for the devas. Jalandhara then threw the whole Droṇa mountain into the ocean, so the devas lost the source of their revival. The devas were overcome and fled in the ten directions. Jalandhara entered Amarāvatī with the sound of conches and drums. The devas under Indra fled to a cave in Meru.

Vishṇu’s promise not to kill Jalandhara (Chapter 98)

In the Meru cave the devas praised Bhagavān Vishṇu. He came to save them, riding on Garuḍa. A fierce battle followed between Bhagavān Vishṇu and Jalandhara. Arrows filled the sky. Bhagavān Vishṇu cut down Jalandhara’s banner and bow. Jalandhara struck Garuḍa with a mace. At last they fought hand to hand. After a long fight Bhagavān Vishṇu was pleased with Jalandhara’s courage and offered him a vara.

Jalandhara said: “O brother-in-law, if you are pleased with me, grant me this: that you and your sister Lakshmī, with your attendants, live in my city.” Bhagavān Vishṇu agreed. He went with all his divine attendants and with Lakshmī to Jalandhara’s city, which was also named Jalandhara. The account gives the reasons why Bhagavān Vishṇu did not kill Jalandhara: he was born from a portion of Rudra, Brahmā had spoken, and Lakshmī loved her brother.

Under Jalandhara’s just rule no one was sick, afflicted, weak or helpless. Gandharvas, siddhas, yakshas, serpents and humans all lived in his city.

The birth of Kīrtimukha (Chapter 99)

Nārada visited Jalandhara’s city. When Jalandhara asked him, Nārada told of the unmatched beauty of Pārvatī at Kailāsa and said that no jewel among women in Jalandhara’s keeping could be like her. Desire for Pārvatī rose in Jalandhara. He sent Rāhu, the son of Siṃhikā, as his messenger to Bhagavān Śiva. The message was an insult: Pārvatī, “a gem among women”, belonged to Jalandhara, the lord of jewels, and not to the naked dweller of the cremation ground.

When Rāhu gave this message, a fierce being came out from the place between the eyebrows of Bhagavān Śiva. He had a lion’s face, a moving tongue, fiery eyes, upright hair and a dry body, like another Narasiṃha. He ran to eat Rāhu. Rāhu fled but was caught, and cried out to Bhagavān Śiva for protection. He said he was only a messenger, who depends on another. Bhagavān Śiva ordered the being to let Rāhu go, since a messenger must not be killed. The being then asked Bhagavān Śiva what he should eat, for he was weak with hunger. Bhagavān Śiva said: “Quickly eat the flesh of your own hands and feet.” The being obeyed and ate until only his head was left.

Bhagavān Śiva was very pleased by such obedience and said: “With the name Kīrtimukha, stay always at my door. Those who do not honour you do not do what is dear to me.” Since then Kīrtimukha stays at the door of Bhagavān Śiva. Rāhu, set free, fell in the Bārbara region.

The opening of the battle at Kailāsa (Chapter 100)

Jalandhara was angry at what Rāhu told him. He set out with crores of asura troops, with Śukra marching in front. The devas saw this and told Bhagavān Śiva to kill the son of the Ocean. Bhagavān Śiva laughed and said to Bhagavān Vishṇu: “Why did you not kill Jalandhara in the battle?” Bhagavān Vishṇu answered: “I did not kill him because he was born from your portion and is also Lakshmī’s brother. Now you kill him.”

Bhagavān Śiva said that Jalandhara could not be killed by ordinary weapons. All the devas would have to give a portion of their divine lustre. All the devas, led by Bhagavān Vishṇu, gave their lustre. From the joined lustre Bhagavān Śiva made the Sudarśana disc, fierce with flames. From the lustre that was left he made the thunderbolt.

The battle began at the foot of Kailāsa between the Pramathas (the attendants of Bhagavān Śiva, among them Nandī, Gajānana and Kārtikeya) and the asura army. Bhārgava revived the asuras who were killed, with the Sañjīvanī vidyā. In answer, a fearful devī rose from the mouth of Rudra. She was huge and crooked, and she pressed the trees with her body. She ate the great asuras and seized Bhārgava himself, and then vanished with him. The asura army, without Bhārgava’s power to revive, was broken and scattered. But Niśumbha, Śumbha and Kālanemi rallied. Their volleys of arrows hid the sky and drove back the attendants of Bhagavān Śiva.

The Skanda account of his birth (Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya, Chapters 14–16)

The birth (Chapter 14)

In the Skanda Purāṇa, Jalandhara’s birth also follows a meeting of Indra with a terrible being at Kailāsa. Indra came to the home of Bhagavān Śiva to see him. At the entrance he found a frightening person with curved teeth and an ugly face, who stayed silent when asked who he was. Indra was angry and struck him with the thunderbolt. The throat of the being turned blue and the thunderbolt was turned to ash. The fire from the third eye of Bhagavān Śiva blazed up at the attack.

Bṛhaspati at once bowed Indra down and praised Bhagavān Śiva to calm him. Bhagavān Śiva was pleased with Bṛhaspati’s stotra (hymn of praise). He drew back the fire from his third eye and threw it far away. It fell into the salt sea, where the river Sindhu meets the ocean.

Where it fell, it took the form of a child and began to cry. The whole earth shook at the sound, and all the worlds up to Satyaloka were deafened. Brahmā went there and saw the child in the lap of the Ocean. The Ocean joined his palms in respect, set the boy before Brahmā and asked him to perform the rites after birth for his son. As Brahmā came near, the boy seized his beard and shook it again and again. Tears of pain flowed from Brahmā’s eyes. Brahmā freed his beard and said: “Since the water flowing from my eyes was held by him, he will be famous as Jalandhara.” Brahmā also said: “When he becomes a youth, he will be master of all missiles and weapons, and no being can overcome him except Rudra. He will meet his end in the place of his birth.” Brahmā called Śukra and crowned Jalandhara as king.

The Ocean then asked Kālanemi for his daughter Vṛndā as wife for his son. The asuras, led by Kālanemi, gladly gave Kālanemi’s daughter Vṛndā to Jalandhara. Made strong by his marriage and guided by Śukra, the powerful asura ruled the realm.

The war on the devas (Chapter 15)

Rāhu’s head had been cut off during the Samudra Manthana (the churning of the ocean). When Rāhu came to Jalandhara’s notice, the asura king asked Śukra why his head had been cut off. Śukra told him the whole account: the churning, the taking of all the jewels by the devas, and the defeat of the daityas. Jalandhara’s eyes turned red with anger. He sent his messenger Ghasmara to Indra’s court with this demand: “Return all the jewels of the ocean that you took by churning our father.”

Indra refused. He said that the mountains which had been kept in the ocean were his enemies, and that Śaṅkha, the son of the Ocean, had been an enemy of the devas. Ghasmara went back and reported. Jalandhara was enraged and marched on svarga with a crore of daityas.

In the war Śukra raised the dead daityas with his Mṛtasañjīvanī Vidyā, and Bṛhaspati used divine herbs from Droṇa Mountain to revive the devas. As Bṛhaspati kept on restoring the slain devas, Jalandhara asked Śukra why the devas were rising again. Śukra told him to remove Droṇa Mountain. Jalandhara seized the mountain and threw it into the ocean. Without it Bṛhaspati could no longer revive the fallen devas. He told the devas to flee, and said that this daitya, born of a part of Rudra, could not be overcome. The devas scattered in the ten directions and Jalandhara entered Amarāvatī. The devas then hid in the caves of Mount Meru. Jalandhara put his daitya commanders in the offices of Indra and of the Guardians of the Quarters, and ruled the three worlds.

Vishṇu and Jalandhara (Chapter 16)

In their misery the devas praised Bhagavān Vishṇu. He was moved, but he explained that Jalandhara was born of a part of Rudra and was his own brother-in-law, as the brother of Lakshmī who had risen from the ocean, so he would not kill him himself. Still, he mounted Garuḍa and flew to the place where the devas were gathered for battle. The wind of Garuḍa’s wings alone scattered the daitya army.

Jalandhara himself fought Bhagavān Vishṇu face to face. It was a fierce and long battle in which they struck each other and destroyed each other’s weapons, gear and mounts. In the end Bhagavān Vishṇu praised Jalandhara’s great courage and asked him to choose a vara. Jalandhara asked that Bhagavān Vishṇu spend one day in his house with Lakshmī and his followers. Bhagavān Vishṇu agreed and went with Jalandhara to his city.

During this visit Jalandhara set his daitya generals in the places of the devas and went again to the earth to make his hold on the three worlds firm. He brought Śesha and others to the earth. He made the devas, gandharvas, siddhas, nāgas, rākshasas and humans citizens of his capital. His rule was just, and no one in his kingdom was sick, miserable or poor.

The Padma account of the war (Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapters 9–18)

The devas ask Vishṇu and Śiva for help (Chapters 9–10)

The devas had been driven from svarga and could not beat Jalandhara by force. They went to Bhagavān Vishṇu at the Ocean of Milk and to Bhagavān Śiva and told them their trouble. Jalandhara had sent a direct demand to Bhagavān Vishṇu that Lakshmī, who rose from the churning of the ocean and so was in a way a daughter of Jalandhara’s own father the Ocean, should be given to him. Bhagavān Vishṇu refused and a battle followed. Jalandhara could not be beaten. His invincibility held.

The making of the Sudarśana cakra (Chapter 9)

An extraordinary weapon would be needed to overcome Jalandhara once his invincibility was broken. All the devas joined their powers. Each gave his own tejas (radiant energy) into one mass. Bhagavān Śiva then danced on this blazing mass with his left foot. The force of that step shaped the joined lustres into the supreme circular weapon, the Sudarśana cakra. Bhagavān Śiva kept it under his armpit, ready for the time when Jalandhara’s invincibility would be removed.

Rāhu as messenger (Chapters 10–11)

Jalandhara sent Rāhu to Bhagavān Śiva as his messenger, with a series of insolent demands. The most extreme was a claim on Pārvatī herself: that Bhagavān Śiva should give up his own consort to Jalandhara. This came from an asura king who had already conquered the three worlds and driven the devas from svarga.

Bhagavān Śiva’s answer was a terrible being that came from his own anger and looked ready to eat. This being, later named Kīrtimukha, was told to eat those killed in battle. Rāhu fled in terror. From this demand for Pārvatī, the whole divine order stood against Jalandhara.

The origin of Kīrtimukha (Chapter 11)

The being that rose from the anger of Bhagavān Śiva at Jalandhara’s insolence had three faces, many arms and a look of hunger. He was told to eat those killed in battle. But no battle had yet begun. Finding nothing to eat, the being turned on himself and began to eat his own body: his limbs, his trunk, everything, until only the face was left. Bhagavān Śiva looked at the face that had eaten itself out of hunger and said to it: “You shall remain always at my door.” This is the origin of Kīrtimukha, the “glorious face”. It appears as a fierce face above the entrance of the temples of Bhagavān Śiva throughout Bhārata.

Śukrācārya is held (Chapters 17–18)

During the war, Śukrācārya, Jalandhara’s guru and chief counsellor, was held fast by a Kṛtyā, a being of destructive power sent against him. With Śukrācārya held, he could not give counsel and could not use the Mṛtasañjīvanī vidyā to revive fallen asuras. Jalandhara lost an important help.

Jalandhara takes the form of Śiva (Chapters 13–15)

Direct battle with the divine forces was proving hard. Jalandhara chose another plan: to use trickery against Bhagavān Śiva, as the forces of Bhagavān Śiva were using trickery against him. He took the form of Bhagavān Śiva and came to the home of Pārvatī, meaning to deceive her, as Bhagavān Vishṇu was at that time deceiving Vṛndā.

But Jayā, one of Pārvatī’s chief attendants, saw through the disguise. She warned Pārvatī, who took the right steps to protect herself. Jalandhara’s attempt failed, and he had to give it up.

The deception of Vṛndā (Chapters 15–16)

Jalandhara’s disguise failed before Pārvatī, but the plan of the devas against him succeeded through his wife. Bhagavān Vishṇu went to the forest near Mount Govardhana, where Vṛndā was doing tapas for her husband’s victory. He came in the form of the ṛshi Devaśarman, son of Bhāradvāja. Śesha went with him in disguise.

Bhagavān Vishṇu showed Vṛndā a false severed head of Jalandhara, and she fell down in grief. Then he made a false Jalandhara who seemed alive and embraced her. Vṛndā believed that her husband had been brought back to life and received the false Jalandhara. The unbroken thread of her pātivratya was cut, and the shield that it gave Jalandhara was gone. His second protection was lost.

Jalandhara is killed by the Sudarśana disc (Chapter 18)

With Vṛndā’s pātivratya broken, Jalandhara was left with only Brahmā’s vara. The last battle with Bhagavān Śiva began again. The Sudarśana cakra, held ready under the armpit of Bhagavān Śiva since it was made from the joined lustres of the devas, was now used.

The Sudarśana disc struck Jalandhara. His head was cut off and flew a hundred yojanas (a unit of distance) before it fell to the earth. Jalandhara, the invincible son of the Ocean, born from the anger of Bhagavān Śiva, was destroyed.

The change in the earth (Chapter 18)

The pieces of Jalandhara’s body fell on the earth over a wide area. His marrow (medas) entered the earth, and the earth came to be called Medinī. The place where his blood fell became Śoṇitapura, later to be the city of Bāṇa, the great devotee of Bhagavān Śiva. The Yoginīs gathered and ate his flesh after the battle.

Vṛndā’s śāpa and the birth of Tulasī (Chapters 15–17)

When Vṛndā found that the one she had received was not her husband but Bhagavān Vishṇu in disguise, she spoke her śāpa (curse):

“As you took the form of an ascetic to break my purity and cause my husband’s death by trickery, so a disguised ascetic will take your wife.”

This came true in the Rāmāyaṇa, when Rāvaṇa took the form of a wandering ascetic (sannyāsī) and carried Sītā away from Daṇḍakāraṇya. Bhagavān Rāma’s wife was taken from him by a disguised figure, as Vṛndā had said.

Vṛndā then gave herself to the fire, together with her companion Smaradūtī. The Tulasī plant rose from Vṛndā’s sweat. Her ashes were thrown into the river Mandākinī. The forest near Govardhana where she had done tapas became Vṛndāvana, her forest, named in her memory.

Jalandhara’s tejas enters Śiva (Chapter 104)

Chapter 104 of the Uttara Khaṇḍa adds that at the moment Jalandhara was killed, his tejas, the radiance and energy that had made him invincible, did not fade away but entered Bhagavān Śiva himself. Jalandhara had been born from the anger and the ocean fire of Bhagavān Śiva, and that energy went back to its source.

Hearing this narrative (Chapters 17–18)

The Uttara Khaṇḍa records that hearing the whole account of Jalandhara’s rise and fall gives great merit and leads the hearer toward moksha (liberation).

The Skanda account of the war (Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya, Chapters 17–23)

Rāhu and Kīrtimukha (Chapter 17)

After Jalandhara’s victories Nārada visited his court. He told Jalandhara that the beauty of Pārvatī was greater than anything in Jalandhara’s realm. Desire rose in Jalandhara, and he was deluded by the Māyā of Bhagavān Vishṇu. He sent Rāhu as messenger to Bhagavān Śiva. Rāhu came to Kailāsa, entered the presence of Bhagavān Śiva and gave an arrogant message: Pārvatī, the jewel among women, suited Jalandhara and not Bhagavān Śiva, “who begs for food, lives in cremation grounds, wears bones, and is always naked”.

While Rāhu spoke, a terrible person came out from between the eyebrows of Bhagavān Śiva. He had a lion’s face, a rolling tongue, blazing eyes, a huge body and upright hair, like another Narasiṃha. He ran at Rāhu to eat him. Rāhu fled but the being caught him. Rāhu called out: “O Bhagavān Śiva, protect me. I am only a messenger and so I am innocent.” Bhagavān Śiva ordered the being to let Rāhu go. The being then asked what he should eat. Bhagavān Śiva told him: “Eat the flesh of your own hands and feet.” The being ate his own hands, feet and body until only his head was left.

Bhagavān Śiva was delighted by this complete obedience and said: “You are named Kīrtimukha. Be always present at my doorway. Those who do not worship you first are not dear to me.” Since that day Kīrtimukha stands at the entrance of the temples of Bhagavān Śiva.

The march on Kailāsa (Chapters 18–19)

Jalandhara then marched on Kailāsa. The gaṇas of Bhagavān Śiva, led by Nandin, Gajānana (Gaṇeśa) and Kārttikeya, came down from the mountain to fight. A great and long war followed. Śukra raised the slain daityas with his Mṛtasañjīvanī Vidyā. Rudra sent out a terrible Kṛtyā from his mouth, a female ogress whose calves were like palm trees and whose mouth was a huge cave. She ate the great asuras and swallowed Śukra into her vaginal passage, and vanished. With Śukra gone, the gaṇas took heart again.

But Niśumbha, Śumbha and Kālanemi, the three daitya generals, then overpowered the gaṇas. Kārttikeya, Nandin and Gajānana each fought a duel with one of them. Kārttikeya was felled by Niśumbha’s javelin, Nandin fell to Kālanemi, and Gajānana fell to Śumbha. Then Vīrabhadra rushed in with crores of bhūtas and drove back the daityas. But in the end Jalandhara himself beat Vīrabhadra, striking him on the head with his iron club. When Vīrabhadra fell, Bhagavān Śiva rode to the battlefield on his bull, laughing. A loud battle followed between Bhagavān Śiva and the son of the Ocean.

Jalandhara goes to Pārvatī (Chapter 20)

When neither side could overcome the other, Jalandhara used his Gāndharvi Māyā. He sent gandharvas and apsarās to sing and dance before Bhagavān Śiva. Held by the music and the show, Bhagavān Śiva lost awareness, and his weapons fell from his hands. Jalandhara used this time to hurry to the home of Pārvatī in the form of Bhagavān Śiva, with three eyes, five faces, ten arms and matted hair, riding a great bull. Pārvatī came forward to meet the one she thought was her husband. The moment Jalandhara saw Pārvatī, his seed was released against his will and his limbs became stiff. Pārvatī knew the trick at that instant and vanished at once to the Northern Mānasa. In fear she remembered Bhagavān Vishṇu, who at once stood beside her. She told him what had happened. Bhagavān Vishṇu said: “We too must follow the same path he has shown. Otherwise he cannot be killed, because his wife’s chastity protects him.”

Vishṇu and Vṛndā (Chapter 21)

Bhagavān Vishṇu went to Jalandhara’s city to deceive Vṛndā. Vṛndā had already seen terrible signs in a dream: her husband sitting naked on a buffalo, wearing black flowers, surrounded by flesh-eating animals, with his head shaved, going south. The city was swallowed by darkness and the sea. She woke trembling. In the city park she walked about without peace. Then she saw two terrible rākshasas with lions’ faces. She ran away and met a calm ascetic with a silent disciple. In fear she held his neck. The ascetic drove the rākshasas away with a sound. She bowed before him and asked about her husband in the battle.

The ascetic was Bhagavān Vishṇu in disguise. He sent two monkeys, who flew to the battlefield and came back with Jalandhara’s cut-off head, his hands and his headless trunk. Vṛndā fell unconscious. The ascetic sprinkled her with water from his pot and comforted her. Then he revived the form, and she lived with him in the forest for many days, believing him to be her husband. At the end of their time together she saw him in the true form of Bhagavān Vishṇu.

In anger she spoke a śāpa (curse): “Your two gatekeepers whom you showed me as rākshasas will be born as rākshasas and will carry off your wife. You will wander in misery with the king of serpents as your disciple.” After saying this she entered the fire, though Bhagavān Vishṇu tried to stop her. Bhagavān Vishṇu was overcome with grief. He stood covered with her ashes and could not be comforted by the devas or the siddhas.

The death of Jalandhara (Chapter 22)

In the last battle Jalandhara made a false Gaurī. He showed Pārvatī bound above a chariot and being struck by Niśumbha. Bhagavān Śiva saw this picture of his beloved in distress and stood still with his face bent down. Jalandhara used the moment to pierce Bhagavān Śiva with three arrows deep into the head, chest and belly. Then Bhagavān Vishṇu made Bhagavān Śiva see the trick. Bhagavān Śiva took a terrible form, blazing with masses of flame.

Rudra spoke a śāpa on Śumbha and Niśumbha, who had run from the battle: that they would be killed by Gaurī. Then Rudra hurled the Sudarśana cakra, bright as the sun. It came down burning svarga and earth and cut Jalandhara’s head from his body. His body fell from the chariot with a great noise. A great light came out of his body and entered Rudra. The light that came out of Vṛndā’s body entered Gaurī. The devas rejoiced.

The three plants (Chapter 23)

After Jalandhara’s death Bhagavān Vishṇu stood in deep grief over Vṛndā. The devas praised Mūlaprakṛti, and the divine voice said: “I am Gaurī, Lakshmī and Svarā, marked by rajas, sattva and tamas in that order.” Then Gaurī, Lakshmī and Svarā gave seeds to the devas. The devas scattered them on the earth where Bhagavān Vishṇu stood in misery, following Vṛndā. Three plants grew: Dhātrī (the emblic myrobalan), Mālatī (jasmine) and Tulasī.

Bhagavān Vishṇu saw the three plants in the forms of women and was drawn by their beauty. Tulasī and Dhātrī looked at him with true love. Mālatī, born from the seed of Lakshmī in her jealousy, was hostile. Bhagavān Vishṇu was comforted by Tulasī and Dhātrī and went joyfully with them to Vaikuṇṭha, where all the devas bowed to him.

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapters 3–8
• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapters 9–18
• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapters 96–100
• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 104
• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya, Chapters 14–16
• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya, Chapters 17–22
• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 23